Thursday, January 30, 2014

If you could have any superpower...

I know. A lot of people on the internet think I'm weird because I wrote "free spirit" as my job title for the Bachelor. First I'd like to say thank you to all of those people for that tremendous compliment. I would rather be called weird than normal any day! Sadly, I am not the unemployed freak that people make me out to be. I do have a job. However, I don't think it's important to talk about it. For whatever reason, it has become customary that, when meeting someone for the first time, you ask them the following questions:

1) where are you from?

2) what do you do for a living?

3) where did you go to college?

If you ask me these questions, you are going to think that I am the most boring person in the world. If I ask you these questions, you will give me the same mundane answers you have been giving your entire life and I will easily forget about you. I am more interested in the things that make you YOU, like where you have been and what you have done that makes you unique. So when I meet someone, I usually like to ask the following three questions:

1) if you could have any superpower what would it be?

2) have you ever been in love?

3) where is your favorite place on Earth?

Not only will people be surprised, they will be excited about answering questions that they weren't expecting. You will be about to see them think on the spot and learn something new about them. Try it out and me know what you think!

2 comments:

  1. I absolutely love your blog & your free-spirit approach to life! It's so inspiring :)

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  2. Well, I don't have a twitter or instagram account, but I do use blogger, so at some point you'll see I've posted a comment here and some advice on backpacking the John Muir. I'll keep it real simple. I've been backpacking for 20 years and some of that was in California when I lived in Santa Clara near San Jose, but most of my backpacking has been in the east, in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, where I've called home for 14 years.
    Muir is great inspiration, reading him is pure inspiration to anyone who has a feeling for the natural world. Muir, Thoreau, Emerson, those transcendental guys, great reading for the soul. Muir's Mountains of California is a favorite of mine. Hope you've read it.
    Back on subject. Backpacking is an unguided experience, unlike skydiving and such, for most of us. Unless of course you hire a guide, but then it's not true to the spirit of backpacking, which is carrying your livelihood on your back, self-sufficiency. My only advice is this. Don't try and tackle backpacking long distances before doing a number of shorter long weekends. As I'm sure you know, there's more than enough people and forums out there to talk to others about the Muir trail, but learning the ropes of trekking so that you can travel in a mountain wilderness self-sufficiently and safely and comfortably and happily will take some practice. It's not that hard, but like all things, it would best to get to know an experienced person or group, and pal up with someone, after you've done some overnights, to try long distance hiking. Look up the Mountaineers 10 essentials and be faithful to them. Get to know your gear so like it's an extension of yourself. Far too much to get into here otherwise. One thing I know, just for laughs, is bring plenty of chapstick for the dry air in the Sierra Nevada.
    Good luck. I'm heading out on a backcountry ski with three friends tomorrow, just a day trip, but should be fun with 20" of new snow we got this week. And one of these days I'll get around to asking someone your three questions, which was the intent of this post after all ;)

    Have a great day!

    Paul

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